Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has opened up a 29 - 20 percent lead over Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
in the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, up from 24 - 22 percent November
12, but both Democrats trail Republican Rob Portman by small margins, according to a Quinnipiac
University poll released today.

Less than one in five Ohioans think the federal government does the right thing almost all
or most of the time, and less than a quarter of the state's voters feel that way about state
government, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds. Ohio voters
have a net positive image of the Tea Party movement, but net negative views of the Republican
and Democratic parties.

"Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher has put some distance between himself and Secretary of State
Jennifer Brunner, but 48 percent of Democrats are undecided about who to support in the May 4
primary," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Fisher rates slightly higher than Ms. Brunner on a number of measures of support."

Among Democrats Fisher is viewed favorably 47 - 3 percent, with 50 percent who don't
know enough about him to form an opinion. Ms. Brunner gets a 37 - 3 percent favorability among
Democrats, with 60 percent who don't know enough.

Ohio Democrats are evenly divided in a closer look at the two U.S. Senate candidates:

Saying 34 - 31 percent that Fisher is more likely than Brunner to do in office what he
promises in the campaign;

Feeling 31 - 29 percent that he, rather than she, most shares their values;

Gauging 28 - 26 percent that Fisher is more liberal.

Among all Ohio voters, the Democratic Party gets a 38 - 50 percent unfavorable rating,
while the Republicans get a 37 - 46 percent unfavorable score.

But voters have a 32 - 23 percent favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, with 43
percent who haven't heard enough about it to form an opinion. Democrats view the Tea Party
unfavorably by 42 - 7 percent, while Republicans are favorable 53 - 8 percent and independent
voters like it 36 - 20 percent. Men like the Tea Party 40 - 25 percent, while women like it 25 - 22
percent.

Going hand-in-hand with that finding is that only 1 percent of Ohioans say the federal
government does the right thing "almost all the time," while 15 percent say it does the right thing
"most of the time." Conversely 42 percent say it does the right thing "only some of the time" and
40 percent say it "hardly ever" does the right thing.

Voter faith in Columbus is slightly better as 2 percent say state government does the right
thing "almost all the time" and 20 percent say "most of the time." But 57 percent say "some of the
time" and only 20 percent say "hardly ever."

"It is clear that the voter anger is bipartisan. They are fed up with both parties. Whether
the Tea Party movement becomes a significant political force will be seen in the May primary and
the November election, but clearly it has the potential to be a big factor in elections this year," said
Brown.

Ohio voters approve 51 - 32 percent of the job U.S. Sen. George Voinovich is doing and
approve 43 - 30 percent of the job Sen. Sherrod Brown is doing.

From February 16 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,662 Ohio voters, with a margin
of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. The survey includes 604 Democrats, with a margin of error
of +/- 4 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Lee Fisher and Jennifer
Brunner, for whom would you vote?

TREND: (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Lee Fisher and Jennifer
Brunner, for whom would you vote? (*Someone Else & Wouldn't Vote volunteered
options not in option list / na = not asked)